Sportfish Profiles

Lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus)

Written by: Dr. Larry G. Allen

As
I mentioned in my last article, in April and May, I had the opportunity to visit
San Miguel Island, otherwise known as "rock cod heaven" in southern California
waters. As an onboard instructor for Ronnie Kovach's Eagle Claw Fishing School,
I was able to experience some of the finest shallow water rock cod fishing I
have ever seen. In the two trips, the students and instructors caught full
limits including a lot of big boccacio (salmon groupers), yellow-eye
rockfish, reds (properly known as vermillion rockfish) and ling cod.
Technically, ling cod are not "cod". Heck, they are not even rockfish. They are
actually the largest member of the greenling family. But, it is inevitable that
these wonderful, toothy predators will always be linked to rock cod in the minds
and hearts of us anglers. Here is what we know about this neat species.

DISTRIBUTION - Shumigan Islands, Alaska to northern Baja California with
a center of abundance off British Columbia. Occur at depths from the intertidal
zone (juveniles) to over 1,600 feet, but rarely occur deeper than 1,000 feet.

SIZE &
AGE - To 5 ft and about 70 pounds. The oldest known ling cod was 20
years old. Female lings grow faster and grow larger than males. Lings grow to
about 1 foot in 1 year and are 3 feet long at 7 to 10 years of age.

DIET - Ling cod are voracious predators and will eat almost any kind of small fish,
particulary small rockfish. No self-respecting ling cod would pass up an
opportunity to eat an octopus or squid either.

REPRODUCTION - In California, spawning begins in November and continues
into March. Spawning peaks in December and January. Male ling cod migrate into
nearshore habitats and establish spawning territories. Females choose which
nesting site and male they will mate with and lay anywhere from 50,000 to
170,000 eggs (depending on the size of the female) in a gelatinous egg mass
ranging from 3 to 68 quarts in volume. The male fertilize the eggs and then
guards the egg tenaciously until they hatch (5-11 weeks). Lingcod larvae appear
in the nearshore plankton in January and February and eventually transform into
the pelagic juvenile stage (1 to 4 inches). By June, most of the pelagic
juveniles have settled to the bottom, usually in shallow water. Male lingcod
mature at about 20 inches (3-4 years) and females at 24 inches (4-6 years).

FISHERY - The ling cod is a very popular recreational and commercial fisheries species.
In areas of highest abundance north of Pt. Conception, lingcod begin to form
more than 1% of the recreational catch. In northern California and Oregon they
comprise 3 - 7% of the sport catch. Lingcod populations continue to be strong
and commercial catches remain at similar levels to those from early in this
century. However, there is cause for some concern. A five-fold increase in
recreational landings has occurred in the last two decades causing a 20% decline
in the average weight of sport-caught lings.